Video relay services (VRS) may be used so an audibly-impaired user (i.e., a hearing-impaired user, a speech impaired user, or a combination thereof) can carry on conversations with an audibly-capable person (i.e., a hearing-capable and speech-capable user). In such systems, the audibly-impaired user will call in to the VRS and get assigned to a translator. The audibly-impaired user may then use sign language to tell the translator the number to be called and the translator will place the call to the audibly-capable user. The translator will then wait for the call to be answered, state who the audibly-impaired user is that is calling, then begin the translation process between the two sides of the conversation (e.g., translating non-audible communications from the audibly-impaired user to audible communications, translating audible communications from the audibly-capable person to non-audible communications, or a combination thereof).
Similarly, when an audibly-capable user makes a call to an audibly-impaired user, the translator must answer the call, usually very impersonally, then attempts to make the connection to the audibly-impaired user so the conversation between the two end parties can commence. Again, the audibly-impaired user has little control over the answering of the call and only gets involved after the translator has conversed with the audibly-capable user.
These interventions by the translator in VRS systems make the calling process much less personal for both end parties and place the power and focus of the call management with the translator such that the audibly-impaired user is always very aware of the interpreter being the central point of any call.
Therefore, there is a need for methods and apparatuses that provide ways to place more of the call management control with the audibly-impaired user.